Posts Tagged ‘current-events’

Proverbs 31:4-7 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 31:4-7 It is not for Kings, O Lemuel-not for Kings to drink win, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.  Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

Drunkenness might be understandable among dying people in great pain, but it is inexcusable for national leaders.  Alcohol clouds the mind and can lead to injustice and poor decisions.  Leaders have better things to do than destroy themselves with alcohol.

We are told that every day in Washington there are many cocktail parties for our government officials.  Republicans and Democrats both have this in common-the party membership doesn’t make any difference.  It is tragic to have drinking men in high potions of government!

Spiritual Training 31 July 2012

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Read Judges 10:6 – 12-7
Jephthah

It’s hard not to admire people whose word can be depended on completely and whose actions are consistent with their words. For such people, talking is not avoiding action; it is the beginning of action.  People like this can make excellent negotiators.  They approach a conflict with the full intention of settling issues verbally, but they do not hesitate to use other means if verbal attempts fail.  Jephthah was this kind of person.

In most of his conflicts, Jephthah’s first move was to talk.  In the war with the Ammonites, his strategy was negotiation.  He clarified the issues so that everyone knew the cause of the conflict.  His opponent’s response determined his next action.

The fate of Jephthah’s daughter is difficult to understand.  We are not sure what Jephthah meant by his vow recorded in Judges 11:31 In any case, his vow was unnecessary, We do not know what actually happened to his daughter-whether she was burned as an offering or set apart as a virgin, thus denying Jephthah any hope of descendants since she was his only child.  What we do know is that Jephthah was a person of his word, even when it was a word spoken in haste, and even when keeping his word caused him great pain.

Lets bring it home: Ho do we approach conflicts?  There is a big difference between trying to settle a conflict through words and simply counterattacking someone verbally.  How dependable are the statements you make?  Do your children, friends, and fellow workers know you to be a person of your word?  The measure of your trustworthiness is your willingness to take responsibly, even if you must pay a painful price because of something you said.

Spiritual Training 13 July 2012

Posted: July 13, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
The Death of Abimelech

 Judges 9:50-55 Next Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it.  Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women-all the people of the city-fled.  They locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof.  Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it.  But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, a woman dropped a millstone on his head and cracked his skull.  Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A women killed him’ “So his servant ran him through, and he died.  When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.

In times of battle, women were sometimes asked to join the men at the city wall to drop heavy objects on the soldiers below.  A millstone would have been an ideal object for this purpose.  It was a round stone about 18 inches in diameter with a hole in the center.  Millstones were used to grind grain into flour.  The grain was placed between to millstones.  The top millstone was turned, crushing the grain. Abimelech’s death was especially humiliating: he was killed by a woman, not by fighting; and he was killed by a farm implement instead of a weapon.  Abimelech therefore asked his armor-bearer to stab him with his sword before he died from the flow of the millstone.

Spiritual Training 11 July 2012

Posted: July 11, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Abimelech

 Judges 9:6-20  Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech King.  When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to your.  One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves.  They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king’.  “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’  “Finally all the trees said to the thorn-bush, ‘Come and be our king.’ “The Thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn-bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’ “Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves-and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian (but today you have revolted against my father’s family, murdered his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother)-if then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo, and consume Abimelech!”

In Jotham’s parable the trees represented Gideon’s 70 sons, and the thorn-bush represented Abimelech.  Jotham’s point was this: a productive person would be too busy doing good to want to bother with power politics.  A worthless person, on the other hand, would be glad to accept the honor-but he would destroy the people he ruled.  Abimelech, like a thorn-bush, could offer Israel no real protection or security.

Jotham told the story about the trees in order to help the people set good priorities.  He did not want them to appoint a leader of low character.

Lets bring it home: As we serve in leadership positions, we should examine our motives.  Do we just want praise, prestige, or power?  In the parable, the good trees chose to be productive and to provide benefits to people.  Make sure these are your priorities as you aspire to leadership.

Spiritual Training 09 July 2012

Posted: July 9, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Abimelech

Judges 9:4-6 They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Ball-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventures, who became the followers.  He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Ball, But Jotham the youngest of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding.  Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech King. 

Politics played a major part in pagan religions such as the worship of Baal-Berith.  Governments often went so far as to hire temple prostitutes to bring in additional money.  In many cases a religious system was set up and supported by the government so the offerings could fund community projects.  Religion became a profit-making business.  In Israel’s religion, this was strictly forbidden.  God’s system of religion was designed to come from an attitude of the heart, not from calculated plans and business opportunities.  It was also designed to serve people and help those in need, not to oppress the needy.

Lets bring it home: Is your faith genuine and sincere or is it based on convenience, comfort, and availability?


Spiritual Training 26 April 2012

Posted: April 26, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Theme for Judges

• Decline / Compromise

Explanation: Whenever a judge died, the people faced decline and failure because they compromised their high spiritual purpose in many ways. They abandoned their mission to drive all the people out of the land, and they adopted the customs of the people living around them.

Importance: Society has many rewards to offer those who compromise their faith; wealth, acceptance, recognition, power, it must not be polluted by a desire for approval from society. We must keep our eyes on Christ, who is our Judge and Deliver.

• Decay / Apostasy (Noun: The abandonment or reunification of a religious or political believe.)

Explanation: Israel’s moral downfall had its roots in the fierce independence that each tribe cherished, it led to everyone doing whatever seemed right in his own eyes. There was no unity in government or in worship. Law and order broke down. Finally, idol worship and man-made religion led to the complete abandoning of faith in God.

Importance: We can expect decay when we value anything more highly than God. If we value our own independence more than dedication to God, we have placed an idol in our hearts. Soon our lives become temples to that god. We must constantly regard God’s first claim on our lives and all our desires.

• Defeat / Oppression

Explanation: God used evil oppressors to punish the Israelites for their sin, to bring them to the point of repentance, and to test their allegiance to him.

Importance: Rebellion against God leads to disaster. God may use defeat to bring wandering hearts back to him. When all else is stripped away, we recognize the importance of serving only him.

• Repentance

Explanation: Decline, decay, and defeat caused the people to cry out to God for help. They vowed to turn from idolatry and to turn to God for mercy and deliverance. When they repented, God delivered them.

Importance: Idolatry gains a foothold in our hearts when we make anything more important than God. We must identify modern idols in our hearts, renounce them, and turn to God for his love and mercy.

• Deliverance / Heroes

Explanation: Because Israel repented; God raised up heroes to deliver his people from their path of sin and the oppression it brought. He used many kind of people to accomplish this purpose by filling them with his Holy Spirit.

Importance: God’s Holy Spirit is available to all people. Any one who is dedicated to God can be used for his service. Real heroes recognize the futility of human effort without God’s guidance and power.

Spiritual Training 25 April 2012

Posted: April 26, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Please join me as I do a study on the book of Judges. Below is a little history before we get started with scripture.

Real heroes are hard to find these days. Modern research and the media have made the foibles and weaknesses of our leaders very apparent; we search in vain for men and women to emulate. The music, movie, and sports industries produce a steady stream of “stars” who shoot to the top and then quickly fade from view.

Judges is a book about heroes- 12 men and women who delivered Israel from its oppressors. These judges were not perfect; in fact, they included an assassin, a sexually promiscuous man, and a person who broke all the laws of hospitality. But they were submissive to God, and God used them.

Judges is also a book about sin and its consequences, Like a minor cut or abrasion that becomes infected when left untreated, sin grows an soon poisons the whole body. The book of Joshua ends with the nation taking a stand for God, ready to experience all the blessings of the Promised Land. After settling in Canaan, however, the Israelites lost their spiritual commitment and motivation. When Joshua and the elders died, the nation experienced a leadership vacuum, leaving them without a strong central government. Instead of enjoying freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land, Israel entered the dark ages of her history.

Bottom line up front, the reason for this rapid decline was sin-individual and corporate. The first step away from God was incomplete obedience; the Israelites refused to eliminate the enemy completely from the land. This led to intermarriage and idolatry and everyone doing “as he saw fit”. Before long the Israelites became captives. Out of their desperation they begged God to rescue them. In faithfulness to his promise and out of his loving-kindness. God would raise up a judge to deliver his people, and for a time there would be peace. Then complacency and disobedience would set in, and the cycle would begin again.

The book of Judges spans a period of over 325 years, recording six successive periods of oppression and deliverance, and the careers of 12 delivers.

As we read the book of Judges, take a good look at these heroes from Jewish history. Note their dependence on God and obedience to his commands. Observe Israel’s repeated downward spiral into sin, refusing to learn from history and living only for the moment. But most of all, stand in awe of God’s mercy as he delivers his people over and over again.

Proverbs 30:07-09 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 30, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 30:07-09 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die:  Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 

 How wise and prudent are you? Do you fear wealth as much as poverty? Do you know that financial success is a vain lie? Here are two of the most important prayer requests you can ever pray! Agur gave inspired instruction to his two students about the danger and deception of money and riches, and your future success and tranquility depends on it.

Agur had a great desire for two petitions (30-7). He knew the dangerous consequences of not obtaining them (30-9). He understood the deceitful and damning nature of both financial success and poverty, so he begged God to deliver him from the arrogance of being rich and from the temptations of being poor. He begged for a moderate income.

Agur prayed for two things: (1) to be saved from vanity and lies, and (2) to obtain only moderate success in life, avoiding both poverty and riches. What vanity and lies are under view? The vanity and lies of riches and success! How so? Let the connection, context, and Bible drive the interpretation (1 Cor 2:13)), since there is no hint at lies of false religion, evolution, false gods, a cheating spouse, hypocrites, perjurers, or other such lies.

Think honestly and wisely about money! It does not satisfy, even when you get lots of it; this is vanity)! It disappears quickly! It corrupts morals! You cannot take it with you. It chokes out and destroys fruitfulness. What vanity! Are you wise enough to believe these warnings and pray against wealth?

A wise man prays for a moderate income and estate, so he can avoid the temptations to sin on either end of the financial spectrum (30-9). He prays for contentment, and he learns contentment, knowing it is the true measure of success. A wise man maximizes life by walking with God, regardless of assets or enemies.

Reader! This advice is only in the Bible! The fools around you adore riches! They have sacrificed their lives to vanity and lies! Add these two prudent requests to your prayers!

Spiritual Training 05 March 2012

Posted: March 4, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Stands Trial before Pilate

John 19:6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

19:12-17 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place know as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

This veiled threat by the Jewish leaders pressured Pilate into allowing Jesus to be crucified. As Roman governor of the area, Pilate was expected to keep the peace. Because Rome could not afford to keep large numbers of troops in the outlying regions, they maintained control by crushing rebellions immediately with brute force. Pilate was afraid that reports to Caesar of insurrection in his region would coast Pilate his job and perhaps even his life.

When we face a tough decision, we can take the easy way out, or we can stand for what is right regardless of the cost. If we know the good we ought to do and don’t do it, we sin. (James 4:17)

The Jewish leaders were so desperate to get rid of Jesus that, despite their intense hatred for Rome, they shouted, “We have no king but Caesar.” How ironic that they feigned allegiance to Rome while rejecting their own Messiah! Their own words condemned them, for God was to be their only true King and they had abandoned every trace of loyalty to him. The priests had truly lost their reasons for existence-instead of turning people to God; they claimed allegiance to Rome in order to kill their Messiah.

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